Man, 59, arrested for fraud

Page 21: Daily Graphic, June 6, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A 59-year-old man who described himself as the Dzaasetse (king maker) of Ga Mashie has been arrested by the police for allegedly defrauding one Stephen Appiah of GH¢20,000.
Nii Amui Degraft Quaye, who is currently on prison remand and is due for court on June 10, 2009, however claims his surveyor, whom he identified as George Aidoo, alias Abeiku, only gave him GH¢9,000 for 10 plots of land which he (Degraft) sold to the complainant in 2007.
A source at the Accra Regional Police Command told the Daily Graphic yesterday that unknown to Mr Appiah, the land sold to him by Degraft of the Abola Clan was under litigation.
It said an estate developer, Mr Kofi Anokye, was contesting the ownership of the land with Degraft in court but the suspect sold the land to Mr Appiah.
It said when Mr Appiah demanded the documents covering the land, Degraft allegedly informed him that the land was under litigation and advised him (Appiah) to be patient.
The source said Mr Appiah then demanded a refund of his money, since he could not part with that amount of money without anything to show for it.
It said Degraft, however, failed to refund the money after several promises to do so.
It said Degraft later insisted that Mr Appiah should wait till the end of the litigation so that the documents would be handed over to him.
According to the source, Degraft allegedly admitted in his caution statement that he had collected only GH¢9,000 from Abeiku as the money paid to him by Mr Appiah.
It said the suspect was charged with defrauding by false pretences, resulting in the court remanding him into prison custody.